Controlling Line Pressure of Clear Food Trays at Denester Station
Application: Ensuring proper staging of plastic trays during denesting process
Challenges: Trays that are made of clear plastic
Solution: QS18 Series Clear Object Detection Sensor
Benefits: Available in clear object sensing mode
Tray denesters introduce food trays onto the conveyor system that leads to the filler. It is important that proper spacing is maintained between trays in order to maximize production and prevent too much line pressure. Incorrect line pressure can cause many errors and downtime if production is stopped in order to make the necessary corrections. A sensing solution is needed to consistently detect clear and opaque plastic trays to control the rate that trays are fed onto the conveyor belt.
Consistent Line Pressure Prevents Jams During Food Packaging
Clear or opaque plastic food trays are introduced to a production line at the denester machine. As the trays move out of the infeed area and proceed further down the conveyors, the spacing between each tray needs to be consistent.
By using Banner Engineering’s QS18 Clear Object Detection sensors, tray detection is reliable, quick, and easy. The sensors coaxial optic design reliably detects clear, translucent or opaque trays with a response time of 400 microseconds, ensuring proper staging. This makes it ideal for use in fast-paced environments. The threshold offset can be set for 8, 16, or 32 % for optimization to the target while maintaining resistance to contamination. The clear-tracking feature, which adjusts the threshold for contamination, can be used for additional protection of the sensor.